A Glimpse Behind the Curtain - Anonymous employee Northern Trust Employee Review

1.0
Jun 27, 2010
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The benefits are pretty good.

Cons

Beware. Northern Trust is very, very conservative and in many way is is a throwback to the 1950s. Dress in the banking areas of NT is business--all the time. Women dress to the nines on the banking side and are required to wear a jacket at all times (they do not want bare arms to show); They consider sweater twin sets inappropriate. Men same (even though they are required to wear long sleeve shirts). On the investments side, they are business casual, but dressy business casual. It is very difficult to get access to allow you to sync up your work computer to your Blackberry/Palm; requires Executive Management approval, and most requests are denied. Flash drives are also not permitted and computers there will not recognize them. Your computer activity, including emails, websites, IMs, are very closely monitored. Many people have been there for years (15+), which also equates to much dead weight. As such, it is very hard to advance in this company, no matter what they tell you. There is quite a bit of office politiking going on and colleagues will not hesitate to throw you under the bus if they thought it meant recognition by Management. Management also has their "favorites" and are not discreet about their feelings. I took my job at Northern because they are a good, solid company that has respect in the industry. I also heard about the high-caliber of employees and opportunities for advancement. The people I interviewed with confirmed my impressions. However, when I joined the organization, I was deeply disappointed. It became quickly obvious that they put forth their best employees to interview me. Many of my colleagues do not live up to the reputation. If you are looking to work at a place that is progressive and values creativity, this is not the place. However, if you like routine, don't want to think too much, and start right at 8:30 and leave at 5:00, Northern Trust is for you. Currently, I am looking

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5.0
Jul 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

Great benefits and work environment

Cons

Nothing that’s too much of a con

2.0
Apr 21, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Nice people and a good environment. Benefits are good and the work is interesting. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate NT as a 7. But, it’s typical big corporate crap that hands out 2% raises and minimum bonuses during a good year yet spends $360 million this past quarter buying their stock back.

Cons

Constant reminders to do more with less and cut costs and belt tightening while the execs line their pockets and you maybe get a 2% raise. I could see such actions if the firm was doing bad financially, but they aren’t. Record this and record that for many quarters now. And they walk around patting each other on the back like they all did such a great job when in reality, the markets are up so the value of the assets we manage are up. I’m wondering what sort of actions will happen when the market goes south for several quarters. Oh. And the constant state of surveillance here is BS. Tracking to make sure you are here 3 days a week. Keyboard / mouse / PC tracking systems receding your activity. It’s like a 21st century high tech sweatshop in some ways.

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